A Chance Meeting
by Alpine992
Summary: How can a chance meeting from 400 years ago, change so much? Finding out he's to go to the future and kill a Dragon, Natsu runs off to think things over. Running into another Dragon just as lost in her own way as he is. How will Natsu meeting the Mother of Dragon's change what happens 400 years since their meeting?
1. Chapter 1

He didn't want this. They couldn't make him do it! At first glance, it seemed like nothing at all, but after the full extent of the circumstances came to light, he hated the idea. To travel to the future to kill a Dragon. He loved Dragons. Yes he was a Dragon Slayer but never did he want to kill one, sure he wanted to beat Igneel up from time to time and when Metalicana made fun of him on their yearly visit he wanted to punch the metal lizard in the snout but never did he want to kill a Dragon. Not to mention to find out that Igneel and all the other Dragon's that he was familiar with only had a limited amount of time that their bodies could sustain themselves. It wasn't fair. Why did they have to go kill a Dragon in the future? He was happy as he was right now.

It had been a few days since he had run away from the others. The other Dragon Slayers were happy to listen to their Dragon's wishes, to allow them into their bodies and travel to the future with them creating the antibodies they would need to remain human. Anna-sensei had been upset when Natsu had refused before he had run off. Maybe he was feeling a little guilty about upsetting the blonde haired woman he harboured a not so secret crush on.

It wouldn't be much longer before Igneel found him, a day or two at most before the flying lizard found him. The Fire Dragon always gave Natsu a few days to vent out his frustration during times where he was confused about a situation, allowing him to come to terms with it on his own. This time would be no different, Igneel would find him and explain things in a way to make the boy understand.

Now the boy was laying in the grass, light rain was falling around him but he didn't mind it much as he stared up at the cloud covered sky. The charred remains of the area brought the pleasant smell of smoke to his nose. He had vented his frustration on his current surrounding area. There were a lot of reasons why Natsu didn't want to go along with this plan to go to the future, the biggest factor was that Zeref would be left behind.

The day Natsu awoke from his unknowing deceased state he hadn't seen his brother again. He had left him with Igneel and told him to get stronger before leaving. It seemed like so long ago now. Zeref was vague on everything since he had re-awoken and it was like his older brother had changed somewhat, it was kinda scary even.

The ground beneath him shook as familiar footsteps reached him making the boy pout as he sat up, his back to the obvious Dragon approaching. He didn't want to see Igneel and his big stupid face right now. He wanted more time to blow stuff up, it hadn't been long enough. His back was to the Dragon as he folded his arms with a huff.

"Go away you stupid Dragon!" Natsu shouted bringing the large creature to a halt behind him. "Nobody likes you and you smell like poo!" Cheap insults like this usually ended up with Natsu free falling from several thousand feet moments later until he was apologising for all he was worth and Igneel snatched him from his fall, it was strange that it hadn't happened yet. That's when the unfamiliar scent reached him. It wasn't Igneel, or any other Dragon he knew. He hadn't caught on immediately because of the smell of the rain and smoke covering this unknown Dragon's scent. Turning his head with a curious gaze he spotted the Dragon.

The Dragon's entire body was covered with light-colored scales, a dark-colored fiery-mane running down the Dragon's back and arms, which appeared to be connected to the feathery wings similar somewhat to Grandeeney's. Three pairs of extensions protrude from the jaw, and dark-colored wing-like design over the eyes that's complemented by two oval designs right above it. Finally, the pair of jagged horns extending from the base of the skull and feather-like scales extending from the back of her knees.

"A boy?" The Dragon spoke, eyes widening at the sight of the child. Sniffing at the air, eyes narrowing at the demonic scent of the boy however traces of the scent of a Dragon coming from his white scale scarf, the scent was what had made her come to investigate the area. She watched as he got to his feet with the expression of extreme excitement on his face.

"It's a Dragon!" Natsu cheered surprising her. Never had she been received in such a way since the tragedy of the events in Dragnof her mere presence frightened humans and she was either forced to flight or flee to survive. Since becoming what she was, this was the first time anyone had smiled at her in such a way, but why was his presence of something… evil?

"Hi!" He was standing before her, not an ounce of fear in his small body. Lowering her head down slowly, as to not frighten him away she peered into his eyes that were filled with such curiosity. "I'm Natsu Dragneel, what's your name?"

"Irene Belserion."


	2. Chapter 2

It was finally time.

The city of Crocus was shrouded in darkness, night had fallen long ago and the sun would rise in the coming hours. But deep in the confines of the Mercurius Palace magic power was growing, to her it was the familiar power of Zeref, like his very essence was built into the Eclipse Gate itself, anyone that knew of the ancient Wizard would know the power, not many believed him to ever have existed. How long had she been waiting for this day? That promise may have been the only thing to keep her sane over the centuries.

A promise between a Dragon and a Boy.

Irene had been endured the last few centuries solely for this purpose. To keep the promise she once made with Zeref's younger brother. At the time of meeting the boy, she had no idea of his relation to the renown Dark Wizard as those of Ishgar referred to him as in stories that scared children. But after being given human form by Zeref and speaking with the obscure man and learning of who he was, she knew there was relations between the two. She owed a lot to Zeref for what he had done for her, but this promise she had treasured since so long ago meant alot more. Zeref had even encouraged her decision knowing that it would help the boy grow stronger for his inevitable purpose.

Zeref had informed Irene of Natsu's heritage and reincarnation as a Etherious being, something she couldn't say she was entirely shocked by. Natsu's presence always held a dark, evil nature to it, despite his childish innocence. After learning from Zeref it was clear to her what she hadn't understood then.

The magic increased as she imagined the Eclipse Gate opening in the depths of the palace. She knew they wouldn't just give her Natsu and she was prepared to completely turn Fiore against her if it came to that. It had had been four hundred years since the promise had been made, her patience had run out. She had four centuries to make up for and Natsu had so much to learn about the current era of the world.

The Mercurius Palace lit up, almost a blinding white light escaped from every nook of the palace sending a blinding light over the city of Crocus. Then one of the tallest towers of the palace erupted, a pillar of magic shooting up from it. It was there she would need to go, however she stopped herself seeing something arise within the light. Amidst the scent of the city and magic, she picked it up. In four hundred years she hadn't forgotten that scent. It was Natsu's mixed with four others.

Eyes wide with panic her body began to levitate, she didn't like what was happening. Had something gone wrong with the Eclipse Gate? Had the fool of a Celestial Wizard that opened the Gate from this side done something to mess up Zeref's plan? The Dark Wizard was going to be utterly beside himself with grief if he found out they did something to his brother. She prayed those of Vistarion weren't subject to his unfortunate curse that spared no one. While Vistarion was no longer her home, she had come to care for the people there.

The height she was getting at slowly increased as the bodies of the Dragon Slayers levitated in the swirl of magic and then, just like stars they shot off into the night sky all in different directions. Anger flashed across her face, her body morphing, scales beginning to cover her body as her size grew. There was no way she could catch up to Natsu in her current form. She'd need the speed of a Dragon to catch up with him, she hadn't taken this form since she had been transformed back to a human by Zeref.

For the first time in centuries, a Dragon was reported in the city of Crocus which arose panic in the sleeping city below, bells signaling for the Royal Guard to assemble. She didn't have the time to deal with the forces below and she didn't have time to deal with the Celestial Wizard that was the cause of this. In fact it might be for the best that she didn't have to destroy the Capital of Fiore to get her hands on Natsu, she was just not expecting to have to chase Natsu across the sky. Spreading her wings out, ignoring the terrified cries below she focused on the lingering scent of Natsu in the air finding the trail he left in the sky, a faint hint of magic lingering in the air she shot forth.

Her speed was amazingly fast to those that bore witness to it, one instance she was there, the next she was rocketing across the sky and only a glimmer on the horizon. The speed the magic was flying Natsu across the sky was immense however her speed in her Dragon form was considerable in its own right and she was slowly gaining on him. When the glowing form came into view it was descending to the ground. She was forced to land as she didn't reach him in time, morphing back into human form she ran through the forest.

Her mind was a mess, what was she even supposed to say? To her it had been four hundred years, to him it would only seem like yesterday that he had last seen her. Soon enough she came to the clearing, Natsu was laying in the grass, he didn't look injured as she approached. A wide smile came to her face as she laid eyes on him once again, Zeref had an old picture of Natsu but Irene didn't want to deprive the man of his only memento and had to recall her own image of him. As she got closer she slowed to a walk, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath.

She was startled slightly as he suddenly sat up abruptly without any warning, he had a sleepy look on his face as he looked around the clearing before his eyes focused and he caught sight of her. He tilted his head slightly, the look of seeing someone unfamiliar to him.

_"Of course, he's never seen me as a human."_ Irene thought to herself. "Natsu, it's me." She spoke softly to him as she knelt down before him with a warm smile. "Irene." Natsu tilted his head once more and uttered a world breaking word to her.

"Who?"


	3. Chapter 3

She could do nothing but stare at the sleeping boy. His memories gone, all he remembered was Igneel. No memories of his time before he met the King of the Fire Dragons, of his brother Zeref or anything that transpired or his mission to come to the future and defeat Acnologia. Only Igneel was relevant in the boys mind. It had almost broken her. Four Hundred years of waiting and this was the result? It had taken a long time for her to calm down, forcing Natsu into his current state of unconsciousness with a powerful sleeping spell just so that he wouldn't see her breakdown.

There was no way she was going to let this stand. His memories were there somewhere, she just had to bring them to the surface. Having used a powerful sleep spell he now lay a few feet from her. She had been shocked, overbearingly so but now that she had calmed down she began to rationalise the situation. His mind had somehow been affected by the Eclipse Gate, all she had to do was reawaken his memories.

Kneeling, she pulled the boys head into her lap, her hands either side of his face. Her hands glowing a vibrant green as magic circles appeared at the tips of her fingers, tendrils of light came forth from the circles and brushed against Natsu's face before glowing brightly as they rooted themselves into his psyche. From Natsu a stream of light played out, the fogged memories were there, just lost to the boy. Focusing Irene began to unravel them, finding his last memories that were clear and started to clear up the rest.

Even though her extensive power, the process took longer than she would have liked but she wanted to be thorough. She didn't want a single thing in his memory to be unclear to him, all his time spent with Igneel and his Dragon Slayer Magic, his meeting with her especially played a large focus on what she cleared up and she learnt of what had happened upon his departure of her and the time he entered the Eclipse Gate with the other Dragon Slayers. Finally his memory was clear and she released her magic, taking a deep breath.

Looking to the horizon she saw the sun starting to rise, she had been at this for a few hours already. Reaching down she smiled at the boy in her lap, brushing a few pink locks from his face. He was the spitting image of the boy that had made her that promise so long ago, the promise that kept her going all these years. Closing her eyes she enjoyed being with him, her time in the past with him was only a short few days but it had been the best time in her life since her time with Belserion.

_**"So you've found him again."**_ Irene's eyes shot wide open as the intense magic pushed down on her, her eyes widened seeing a glowing red orb floating up from Natsu's chest.

"Igneel." Irene breathed out, she had only seen him from a distance, never having spoken with the King of the fire Dragon's before. She only ever recalled one time Igneel visited Belserion and the Sage Dragon had made sure no humans were present. While Igneel wasn't like some Dragon's and detested them, he didn't care for them either.

_**"Not to long ago… no, now that' we're here, four hundred years ago Natsu came back smelling of a woman, a Slayer."**_ Irene frowned slightly. _**"You were there, four hundred years ago."**_

"I was." Irene nodded. "I'm a Dragon Slayer, or I was." Irene frowned. "I became a Dragon."

_**"I see, you're body has lost its sense as a human due to your transformation."**_ Irene winched slightly, the fact had not eluded her. She may have had human form for some years now, but in truth her body was still that of a Dragon. _**"Why have you sought out Natsu?"**_ Irene looked down at the boy and smiled fondly.

"We made a promise to one another when we met so long ago." Irene spoke softly. "He knew he was coming to the future and I knew that as a Dragon I would live for centuries, he said he would find me when he got here."

_**"What promise did you make with my Son?"**_ Irene smiled, the fact that Igneel the King of the Fire Dragons was calling Natsu his son, it meant that the Dragon had changed since long ago.

"When we first met, I told him of a place, where Dragons and humans lived together."

_**"Dragnof."**_ Igneel was familiar with the place she spoke of.

"Yes." Irene smiled. "It was my home, I aided Belserion in creating the utopia that we had however due to the war between Dragons and Humans, the utopia we had crumbled. I can still remember the days filled with serenity." She looked skyward, a slight frown on her features. "Natsu… he…" She smiled gently. "He wanted to go there, despite it no longer existing. I tried to tell him, but he wouldn't listen."

_**"That hard headed brat."**_

"Eventually, we came to the promise that when we met in the future. We'd rebuild Dragnof, together." Smiling she looked down at the boy. Leaning forward she pressed her lips to his forehead. "I've been waiting for four hundred years, gathering resources, seeking out the locations of other Dragon Slayers and the day that we can start to rebuild the Utopia for us all has finally come."

_**"Very well."**_ Igneel spoke. _**"I Leave Natsu in your care, but don't forget that he was sent here for a reason."**_

"I've had four hundred years to learn my Dragon Slaying magic, I'll pass everything I know onto Natsu and the other Slayers so that when the Black Dragon comes, Dragnof will be ready."

_**"Then I should give you something in return."**_ The glowing red ball of magic shined brightly for a moment before a small ball of magic floated to Irene, sinking deep into her chest. She heaved for a moment, feeling a rush of magic through her magic circuits. _**"For the children, we created these antibodies to stop the children from turning into Dragon's like so many Slayers before them. For all that you'll do for Natsu and the other Slayers of this time, I gift you these antibodies."**_ Tears ran down Irene's face and as they passed over her lips she tasted for the first time in centuries as Igneel's glowing form retreated into Natsu's body. _**"I leave Natsu to you."**_


End file.
